I really enjoyed the first episode, it's a lot of fun and adorably cute. I think the storyline will end up being that the Demon will mirror Michael's awakening to some extent, but I think they'll have some fun trying to derail the others first.

The 3rd season of The Good Place is better than ever - the latest episode is so rich in ridiculous gags, clever dialogue and brilliant performances that, even though it most definitely feels like a 'set up the season premise' kind of episode, it's still better than basically anything else calling itself a comedy currently on TV! The New York Times has just written what amounts to a love letter to the show - it deep dives into the background of why Mike Shur is writing it, the incredible lengths they're going to to get it right, and deservedly praises the incredible acting talent they've put together with this cast.https://nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/04/magazine/good-place-michael-schur-philosophy.html
It's heartening to see the critics waking up to the fact that one of the best comedies ever written is being weirdly ignored by the majority of the major awards, but I'm hopeful that this will change from this point on. It's certainly gaining what appears to be more 'noise' about the show than I saw for the previous 2 seasons.

Also, just to say, this show goes through plots in single episodes that most other shows would spend entire seasons on! For all I wonder if it wouldn't have been fun to see Trevor torturing the crew for a couple more episodes, it's clear that Mike Shur has a runaway train of a plot to get through for season 3, and the pace is just unrelentingly quick! So, bye bye Trevor, perhaps he'll be rescued from the endless void by Shawn and co, but his short tenure was brilliantly done by Adam Scott! And now onto the next step! D'Arcy Carden as 'almost human Janet' is perpetually brilliant - it's disconcerting to see her not being able to conjure up a tray of beers, and wonderful to see her confusion at her omniscience and amazing abilities disappearing, as well as Michael's slowly evolving humanness! The only bad thing about this show is the week long wait for the next episode! I'm hoping they're not doing that thing of splitting the season into two (given NBC don't have to contend with the football season this year), and we can run through all 13 episodes uninterrupted!

Where is this show going now, I wonder. Three slightly inconclusive episodes in, it looks like Australia is being abandoned. Not sure the characters have developed at all so far this season beyond their basic characteristics -Chidi indecisive, Tahani a name-dropping socialite, Jsson too dumb to live. Only Eleanor’s character is developing.

I'm happy it looks like the 6 of them are back together now. There's been some funny moments in these first few episodes of the season but for me the show is at it's best when Michael and Janet are with the four humans.

Where is this show going now, I wonder. Three slightly inconclusive episodes in, it looks like Australia is being abandoned. Not sure the characters have developed at all so far this season beyond their basic characteristics -Chidi indecisive, Tahani a name-dropping socialite, Jsson too dumb to live. Only Eleanor’s character is developing.

I was thinking the same myself, there doesn't seem to be any improvement with them, even though they are being spoon fed by both Janet and Michael and given everything they need to succeed.
Eleanor won a substantial amount of money and kept it for her own purpose and didn't appear to do any good for anyone with it.

Completely agree Bosox, the show works best with all of those characters interacting and that's the missing ingredient for me this season.

The first few episodes of this season have felt a bit disjointed overall - probably in part because there's very little interaction between Michael/Janet and the rest of the group. That dynamic was so good, that it drove the other seasons of the show to real heights of brilliance. Given that the humans have now discovered Michael and Janet, that has to change the game, fairly significantly - and bring the characters together in a much more cohesive way.

Mind you, no one of earth is supposed to know about the afterlife - from the start of season 1, Michael said that every religion had it 'about 5% right', but it was all still guesswork, so it's likely to be hugely problematic for their point gathering if they decide the humans get told the truth about what Michael is doing. I still can't shake a little nugget that was revealed on the show's podcast, that Simone was named that because the writers had a 'placeholder' name of 'Sim One (Sim 1)', and it just got left as that! That feels like either a ridiculous red herring, or a tiny clue being dropped to indicate that this isn't real, and it's a simulation, like the Sims! I can't get over the fact that Simone feels too perfect - she's not exhibited any real character flaws. She's great for Chidi, and he's now in a stable, happy relationship with someone who understands him, she's a fantastic supportive friend to the rest of the group - and she somehow always disappears when things of consequence happen (not with the group when Trevor was being particularly demon-ish at the restaurant, disappeared conveniently just before the other 4 discovered Michael in the wine cellar). Who knows?! I'm just paranoid that the show is getting ready to deliver yet another huge surprise, and can't work out what it might be!

I think the problem with these recent episodes is that it hasn't felt like the story has gone anywhere (although that feels deliberate). I have faith in Michael Schur, that he's plotted an entire series (of up to 7 seasons apparently) in which he knows exactly where he's going with this story. I just feel like he got stuck about details, and only knows the grand plot, so the minutiae of getting from A to B to C and so on is muddled, when they've already mentally jumped from A to Z of season 3! So I'm thinking they know the 'big' points of season 3 - restart on earth, 'Brainy Bunch' etc, and onto the rest of the season to hit the big plot points by episode 13 - but we're stuck in the process flow of getting to the interesting bits! I guess that's the issue with writing a half hour comedy that's actually plot driven. Most shows of its kind are far more formulaic, and don't have the character growth that is such an integral part of this show.

My gut instinct is that the feeling of the characters not having accomplished much is very deliberate - and feeds almost perfectly into the issues that Michael and Janet are having. They are practically gift wrapping the situations where the four humans can become better people, but that's not how real life works, and the lack of progress mirrors a real person's life, where they don't suddenly become saint-like, in a matter of weeks or months, just because they had a near-death accident. I have many, many thoughts about this, but I'll hold onto them until at least after the next episode!!